Product Description

There are two types of actors in this world. There are
those who act because they can, and those who do it because they can do nothing
else. You're the third kind: you act in spite of the fact that you can't.
The world's worst variety of hack, talentless yet illogically
persistent.

And you seem to live at Deadwood Studios, a Western-a-Week
schlock movie house with no illusions about their role in the business. Budget,
Script, Quality, and Originality. Who needs 'em? Deadwooders can make movies
day and night. It's the perfect place to do that thing you call "work."

Game Synopsis: Players use 6-sided dice to represent themselves, starting
as "2's" and trying to earn enough credit to upgrade to "6's," to get the
best-paying roles. Upgrading is just a means to an end, however. The actual
object of the game is to make the most money, and it's not unheard of for
hardworking actors to just stay at 2 (or even 1) and get enough paying work
to win. However your career evolves, Deadwood is quick-playing and hilarious.
Where else can you play Man on Fire, Woman in Black Dress, and Falls Off
Roof in the same afternoon?

Product Reviews

Many of the Cheapass games I have played relied on humor for most of the fun. Unfortunately, after reading the cards and chuckling once or twice, the game is no longer fun. There are a few exceptions. Deadwood is one of them (The Very Clever Pipe Game and Parts Unknown are also more lasting beyond the humor). However, let me make this disclaimer first. Deadwood is advertised for 3-8 players, but I would never recommend it for anything under 6 players; it just doesn't work right. It is true that about 90% of your turns will be nothing more than rolling one 6 sided die once. However, the result of that roll potentially helps others while hurting still others. So, there tends to be much heckling or encouragement from other players.

I feel I must correct the reviewer from Athens. There is never a time when one person must roll a 6 four times in succession (in a row). I fear this reviewer may have misread the rules or miscommunicated. This is an important point for the enjoyment of the game because on the movies that are tougher to 'wrap', many players can work together to wrap it; each one of their rolls contribute to the potential end of a shot.

Under the right mood and circumstances, this game is entertaining. With too few players (<6) or when in a more serious mood, the game becomes a monotonous series of die rolls.

Deadwood is funny. Very funny. It's got a neat concept, great artwork, and it's just plain funny. It plays okay, but it's just not quite 'Yay! We get to play Deadwood!' good. Not by itself, anyway.

The idea is pretty easy to grasp, and there is a certain amount of strategy to be had: When working on a film, you can work as an extra in the background, or have an actual speaking line. If you're just an extra, you get paid $1 every turn, regardless of whether or not any progress is made on the shot. If you're a credited actor, you can really rake in the dough once you get a better rank, but you only get paid when the film wraps. Essentially, this means that a lot of people will play bit parts on expensive films (which are harder to wrap) and bleed the studios for $1 per turn until they feel they've had enough.

Enter Another Day, Another Dollar. There are four such expansions for the game and, appropriately enough, each one represents a single day in the game and costs a mere dollar. The variety represented in these expansions freshens the game up, adding special effects, and random opportunities for advantages. The Kung Fu set contains a card which essentially turns you into Jackie Chan, giving you a cult following, while the Musical set contains a card which makes everyone get paid mondo moolah.

I went ahead and plonked down the dough for all four expansions, and played without the original Deadwood cards, and a grand time was had by all. 5 stars for the Another Day sets.

There is not a whole lot to this game but it is fairly fun to play. You are a bit actor at the Deadwood Studios, the worst B movie studio in America. You try to get a part in as many movies as possible to make as much money as possible over a four day period. You are trying to score the best parts in the scenes or get a part as an extra. You get paid when the shot is done and you hope it will not take too long so you can go grab another part in a different scene. If you get a part as an extra you do not get paid as much but you get paid more often so it can benefit you if the scene runs long. You can also visit the casting office and use your experience to get better roles. Just don't let anyone steal a scene because then you will not get the best parts. Not great but not bad either and you cannot go wrong with the price.

Be the bad actor of your nightmares! There's a scene (described on a card) to be shot for each of 10 movie lots over a period of four days. Go to a lot, decide if you want to work in that movie, then choose to work on or off the card. Working on the card pays you very well when the movie is completed, so you want the filming to be over quickly. When you're off the card, you work for scale, so you hope filming is a long, protracted process. All roles are associated with dice: You cannot take a role unless your die token number is at least as high as the role number. I fondly remember my very first role. It was Scene Three in a gum commercial titled "The Hidden Dangers of Taffy." I was the Unsuspecting Bison. I should've won a Clio for that one. Get into the act!

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